I'd say they have about the same amount of ab work. In phase 1 I think they had you do ab ripper once a week because almost every exercise made you use your core. Phase 2 is the same as the original p90x: ab ripper three times a week then an ab routine in yoga. I haven't done phase 3 yet and can't recall the schedule. On a somewhat related note I've been alternating between the new ab ripper and old ab ripper to up the muscle confusion. Just an idea for everyone.

Considering the Beachbody team is ridiculously on point with everything else, I'm thinking that your assumption of it being low enough intensity is correct and that it's ok. Having the right diet along with this phase is vital and without the right diet, doing abs 4 times a day probably won't be beneficial.